RHA publishes DVS advice for operators
The Road Haulage Association (RHA) has published an explainer document for fleet operators on the technological requirements of the Progressive Safe System (PSS), set to be required in London from 28 October on many vehicles as part of changes to the Direct Vision Standard (DVS).
The document, which focuses specifically on the blind spot information system (BSIS) and moving off information system (MOIS) requirements, has been prepared after hauliers told the RHA that it was unclear what equipment they needed to fit in order to comply with PSS rules around these systems.
Prepared by Loughborough University which designed the DVS scheme for Transport for London (TfL), the document does not detail any new requirements, but instead “aims to clarify the meaning” of TfL’s existing technical specifications “in plain language”, as well as to explain the reasoning behind them.
It outlines what the BSIS and MOIS systems should and should not do, and explains how operators can test the systems to ensure compliance.
The university team strongly recommends that hauliers test equipment on an operational vehicle prior to purchase, ensuring all use cases for the vehicles are included in driver testing. The explainer document contains advice about issues to be aware of surrounding this process.
The Loughborough/RHA explainer document for fleet operators can be found at the RHA website, here.
However, “DVS system suppliers should review the detailed specifications provided by TfL [which are accessible via the DVS area of its website] because the specifications are what determine the legal requirement and contain detail that is not required by operators,” advised the document.
These TfL specifications were themselves updated last month.
Whilst welcoming the clarity from the Loughborough University team, the RHA said that it was still concerned about TfL’s timeframe for compliance with PSS.
“We are fully committed to helping implement the new standard smoothly and improve safety on our roads, but there are more than 200,000 trucks in-scope needing upgrading amid concerns about availability, volume, affordability and reliability of equipment,” said the association.
“We’re therefore urging TfL to extend the implementation grace period for at least 12 months to help operators upgrade.
“We expect officials in London will release a market readiness report in July which will help TfL better understand this picture.”
Earlier this month, the RHA said it had been informed that a final decision on the grace period had been pushed back to 18 July due to the general election.
Meanwhile, the association is asking HGV operators servicing London to complete a short survey on DVS (available here) to inform its ongoing dialogue with TfL. The deadline to participate is 6pm on Friday 28 June.
